Awakening A Traumatized Nation Through Love, Spirituality and Forgiveness

June 18, 2012

Hosted by Audrey E. Kitagawa

Guest Information

Episode Description

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi began her work with the Afghan Institute of Learning during one of Afghanistan’s most devastating times; people were in shock and horror over what was going on around them. They had already been through war with Russia, and then moved on to terror from their own people. No Afghan life had been untouched by violence; both physically and emotionally. It was in this context that Dr. Yacoobi began offering hope to Afghans through education and health care services. There the ice was broken and a future of bringing them out of their limiting circumstances into a new world of empowerment had begun.
Hear how Dr. Yacoobi’s work has transformed the ways that Afghans think about their lives in a new society. Learn how her work in connecting Afghans with their peaceful past is opening the door for them to love and forgive themselves and those who have devastated their lives. They are once again able to see that they can create their own visions for their future.

Our Sacred Journey

Archives Available on VoiceAmerica 7th Wave Channel

Our Sacred Journey will inspire others to share their love, compassion and kindness as a powerful way of actualizing the reality of the Divine in our daily lives. Our fascinating guests are global citizens who live and manifest their values, principles and ideals. You’ll hear the broad spectrum of life experiences that moved these passionate, courageous people through the hallways of such global institutions as the United Nations, to the villages in developing countries. We will discuss what it means to live as global citizens from the foundation of our inner spirituality, values and beliefs. Our potential to create a harmonious, cooperative present and future arising out of our own creativity and commitment to make valuable contributions to humanity will weave a beautiful tapestry of our sacred journey together.

Audrey E. Kitagawa

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Audrey E. Kitagawa, is a cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, and a graduate of Boston College Law School. She practiced law in Honolulu for twenty years. At the time of her retirement in 1996, Ms. Kitagawa had a Martindale-Hubbel AV rating, (i.e. highest rating for professional and ethical excellence in the legal profession).
She is President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family, a nondenominational, ecumenical, spiritual community with broad global outreach. She is the former Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations, and the former Vice President/Trustee of Council For A Parliament of The World’s Religions, one of the world’s largest conveners of communities of faith. She is currently a Founding Trustee of the New York City Peace Museum.

She has been enstooled into the royal family as the Nekoso Hemaa (i.e.Queen Mother of Development), of Ajiyamanti in Ghana, West Africa, and has a school named after her in her African name, the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School. She has published articles in World Affairs, The Journal of International Issues. She has authored chapters for three books, and has been listed in Who's Who of American Law, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and Prominent People of Hawaii.

6/4/2012: The Culture of Peace – An Individual and Collective Responsibility
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May 2012

Grace Akallo

Grace Akallo is the founder of United Africans for Women and Children Rights, which advocates for an end to the persecution of child-soldiers, and for women and girl’s rights to improve their socio-economic and political status. She believes that education is the key to improving the lives of young women and girls who have been affected by conflict in Africa. October 9, 1996, Ugandan rebels called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacked St. Mary’s College, a girls' boarding school in Aboke Town in northern Uganda, abducting 139 girls, including Grace. Sister Rachelle Fassera, followed the rebels into the bush and pleaded for her students’ release. The rebels released 109 of the girls, but kept Grace and 29 others. After seven months Grace escaped and finished her secondary education at St. Mary’s. She eventually moved to the US, and received her BA and MA Degrees. She co-authored Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope For Northern Uganda.
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Ann Armbrecht

Ann Armbrecht is a writer, anthropologist (PhD, Harvard University), filmmaker, and herbalist specializing in the relationship between culture and the environment. She has conducted research in Nepal and the Western United States on land, culture and community and has taught at the University of Vermont, Middlebury, Goddard and Dartmouth Colleges. Early in her career, she taught English in a Tibetan refugee school and her book, Settlements of Hope: An Account of Tibetan Refugees in Nepal, documented the resettlement of Tibetans in Nepal. She received a Gold Nautilus Award for her book Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home, which is a meditation on what it means to come home, particularly in cultures that lack deep ties to the natural world. With Terrence Youk she coproduced the film Numen, The Nature of Plants, which explores the interconnection between spirit, ecology, and health for healing, and the relevance of medicinal plants in our lives.
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Dr. Steve Arrowsmith

Dr. Steve Arrowsmith has trained dozens of surgeons from all over the world in fistula repair. He is a clinical consultant to EngenderHealth, NY, was the Vice President/Medical Director/Clinical consultant to Worldwide Fistula Fund, VVF Program Manager for Mercy Ships International, Clinical Consultant to the Fistula Foundation, San Jose, California, Assistant Medical Director of Addis Abba Fistula Hospital, and Founder/Director of the Evangel Fistula Center, Jos, Nigeria. Together with Dr. Lewis Wall, Serving In Mission, and the Fistula Center, Dr. Arrowsmith helped to conceive and realize the Danja Fistula Center in Danja, Niger. He has worked clinically in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. He is an expert on the UNFPA's International Obstetric Fistula Working Group, the CDC/Carter Center sessions on fistula prevention, WHO, and other guiding international organizations.
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Dr. PMH Atwater

Dr. Atwater is one of the original researchers in the field of near death studies. She began her work in 1978, following her own experiences with dying three times. Her contributions to this field is considered one of the best. She uses a systematic method in investigating near death phenomena. Through her efforts, medical workers who routinely deal with trauma and emergencies are now recognizing and recording the NDE and sharing them. In 2001 the medical journal Lancet reported on the NDE for the first time, citing her work to the global medical community. Her book, The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences brought the field up to date globally and was featured in an online version of Newsweek Magazine. The reality of NDE have been verified and confirms its importance in the study of consciousness. Dr. Atwater is the author of 17 books, including, The New Children and Near Death Experiences, and Children of the Fifth World: A Guide to the Coming Changes in Human Consciousness.
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Mellen-Thomas Benedict

Artist, poet, and prodigious inventor, Mellen-Thomas Benedict, holds numerous patents on devices that are designed to maximize the quality of life. His devices, based on the principles of quantum biology, deliver photon light therapies that are designed to enhance longevity, health and wholesomeness. His delivery systems are non-invasive, re-generative energy transfers that provide healing and restoration to the body at the cellular level. A former atheist, with a previously dour attitude towards people and global challenges, he experienced a complete transformation through a life changing experience that revealed to him the beauty of the human soul that is directly connected to the Source and all other souls as one and the same Being. The recipient of a continuous flow of information that revealed to him the nature and properties of light, Mellen continues to develop and create these delivery systems to benefit the well being of others out of a profound joy, love and respect for life.
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Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, a Jungian analyst and author of The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don't Whine, Urgent Message from Mother, and Like a Tree. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a former clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. She received the Institute for Health and Healing's Pioneers in Art, Science, and the Soul of Healing Award, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She was in the Academy Award winning anti-nuclear proliferation film Women For America, For the World, and the Canadian Film Board's Goddess Remembered. The Millionth Circle led to her involvement at the United Nations. She is a leading advocate for a UN 5th World Conference on Women, and is a Permanent Representative of Pathways To Peace. www.jeanshinodabolen.com
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Andrea Carmen

Andrea Carmen is from the Yaqui Nation, and the Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), www.treatycouncil.org. She has years of experience working with Indigenous communities from North, Central, South America and the Pacific. She was a founding member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace with Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and has participated as a human rights observer and mediator in crises situations in the US, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and Ecuador. She participated in many United Nations bodies addressing human rights, sustainable development, environmental justice and Indigenous Peoples, and was IITC’s team leader for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In 1997, she was one of two Indigenous representatives to formally address the UN General Assembly for the first time in history at the UN Earth Summitt +5. She is a co-founder of the International Indigenous Women’s Environmental and Reproductive Health Initiative.
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Father James Channan

Father James Channan, is a Catholic priest and Director of the Peace Center of the Dominican Order in Pakistan and the United Religions Initiative Regional Coordinator, Pakistan. He lectures on interfaith peace building around the world. He is the author of thee books on Christian Muslim Dialogue. He holds a Licentiate Degree from the Pontifical Institute for Islamic Studies and Arabic language in Rome and a Masters Degree in Counseling from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA. He served as Consultor for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue under Pope John Paul II from 1985 until 1995, and as Consultor to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims from 1999 to 2004. He also served for 17 years as Executive Secretary of the Catholic Bishops National Commission for Christian Muslim Dialogue. He received an international Golden Rule Peace Award from Finland, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from the International Gospel Mission in Norway.
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Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, served as the Under-Secretary General and High Representative of the United Nations for the most vulnerable countries; Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, President of the Security Council, President of UNICEF Executive Board and Vice-President of the UN Economic and Social Council. He pioneered the initiative of the UN General Assembly for adoption of the landmark Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and proclamation of the International Decade for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World. He is the recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, the Spirit of the UN Award and UMass Boston Chancellor's Medal for Global Leadership for Peace. He received honorary doctorates from the Soka University of Japan and St. Peter's University of USA. He taught courses on the culture of peace at Soka University of America, and City University of New York. View Guest page

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Anwarul K. Chowdhury

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury served as the Under-Secretary General and High Representative at the United Nations for the Least Developed and Land Locked Countries (2002-2007). He served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, President of the Security Council, President of UNICEF, and Vice-President and member of the Executive Board of the UN's Economic and Social Council.
He pioneered the initiative of the UN General Assembly in 1999 for adoption of the landmark Declaration and Programme of Action On A Culture of Peace, and proclamation of the International Decade for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).
He is the recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, and the Spirit of the UN Award. He served as Adjunct Professor at, Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy, and taught courses on the culture of peace at Soka University and City University of New York. He is a Founding Trustee of the New York City Peace Museum.
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John Dalla Costa

John Dalla Costa, Founder of the Centre for Ethical Orientation (CEO), a Toronto-based consultancy that works with businesses, the public sector and non-governmental groups, fosters ethical excellence in operations and outcomes. He is the author of four internationally published books, and addresses conferences around the world. His articles have appeared in the Financial Post Magazine, the Report on Business Magazine, Marketing Magazine (Canada and the U.K.), and The International Herald Tribune. He is the ethics and integrity instructor in the Conference Board of Canada’s Director’s College. He is a graduate of the Owner/President Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He has a Masters of Divinity Degree (Summa Cum Laude) at Regis College at the University of Toronto. He was inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society, and is currently working on a doctorate, exploring the interfaith resources for advancing sustainable development.
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Joyce S. Dubensky, J.D., C.E.O.

Joyce S. Dubensky, J.D., C.E.O., is the passionate force behind the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding’s innovative approaches to combating religious prejudice. As Tanenbaum’s C.E.O., Ms. Dubensky pursues the work of her heart—creating a lived justice for all people. She has led Tanenbaum to new firsts—each a new contribution to the burgeoning field of interreligious understanding—including the first toolkit on religious diversity for workplace managers (now a major on-line resource for global Fortune 500 companies), the first comprehensive guide on the intersection of religion and health care, the first collection of compelling life stories of Tanenbaum’s Peacemakers in Action, and the establishment of a vibrant global Peacemakers’ Network. A sought after speaker and trainer, she conducts trainings, leads workshops and speaks internationally on all Tanenbaum programs. Ms. Dubensky earned her J.D. from New York University Law School and has a master’s degree in American history. Previously, Ms. Dubensky served as the first General Counsel and created the legal department for UJA-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, and the deputy executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice.
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Kul Chandra Gautam

Kul Chandra Gautam, born in a small village in Nepal, graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College and earned an MPA from Princeton University in USA. After graduation, he began working for UNICEF in Cambodia, and later served in Indonesia, Laos, Haiti, India, and as Regional Director for the Asia Pacific region. Fluent in Nepali, English, French and Spanish, he held many senior positions including Chief for Latin America and the Caribbean; Director of Planning and Coordination; Director of Programs; and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. He received the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Justice Award for Lifetime Achievement given by Dartmouth College. He retired from the UN in 2008, served as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal, and he is actively involved in many national and international, public and private foundations, boards and charities.
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Faith Gemmill

Faith Gemmill, a Pit River/ Wintu and Neets'aii Gwich'in Athabascan from Arctic Village, Alaska, is the Executive Director of REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands) She is a field representative of the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), an organization of Indigenous Peoples working for the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous Rights, Traditional Cultures and Sacred Lands. She has represented the Gwich'in Nation at the United Nations to advocate for the recognition of Gwich'in human rights, and for the rights and recognition of Indigenous Peoples. Faith also currently serves as the Vice-President of the California Indian Environmental Alliance that addresses mining contaminants, including mercury. Faith has given her time and talents to addressing issues regarding Indigenous Lands and Rights for nearly two decades including service of Alaska Inter-Tribal Council and Honor the Earth.
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Barry Goldstein

Barry Goldstein’s musical career spans a wide variety of experiences ranging from co-producing the Grammy Award winning track " 69 Freedom special with Les Paul, to providing ambient music for Shirley Maclaine and Monroe Institute. Barry has composed and produced for Television, Film, Major record labels and Top Ten Recording artists. He has hosted radio shows, written articles and facilitated workshops on utilizing music, sound and vibration in the healing process. As a performer, Barry has shared music from his critically acclaimed series “Ambiology” and his inspirational albums “The Moment” and “Shine’ with audiences worldwide. Barry believes strongly in the healing aspects of music and is a translator of Sacred Sound and Inspirational Song. He recently opened and presented at the American Association of Naturopathic Practitioner’s convention, and Duke University and Arizona State University will be researching the benefits of Barry’s series Ambiology in 2013.
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Jonathan Granoff

Jonathan Granoff, JD, is President of the Global Security Institute, Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University, and Senior Advisor of the American Bar Association's Committee on Arms Control and National Security. He serves on numerous boards, such as the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and the Jane Goodall Institute,. He has represented the International Peace Bureau at Summits of the Nobel Peace Laureates. He studied the sufi path of love with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen since his youth. He is a prolific author, award-winning screenwriter and has given numerous presentations at the United Nations and the US Congress. He is the recipient of the Rutgers University School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award, and lectures worldwide emphasizing the legal, ethical and spiritual dimensions of human development and security.
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Brad Heckman

Brad Heckman is Chief Executive Officer of the New York Peace Institute, one of the nation’s largest conflict response agencies, serving nearly 10,000 people yearly, and Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, where he received the Excellence in Teaching Award. He is on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Community Mediation, and the New York State Dispute Resolution Association. Brad also served as Vice President of Safe Horizon, a leading victims services and violence prevention agency, and International Director of Partners for Democratic Change, where he developed community peace building centers throughout Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Baltics, South Caucasus, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. He received a Master of Arts in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dickinson College.
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J. J. HURTAK

DR. J. J. HURTAK, Ph.D., Ph.D. and Dr. DESIREE HURTAK, Ph.D., MS. Sc. are founders of The Academy For Future Science (www.futurescience.org), an international non-governmental organization that works to bring cooperation between science and consciousness. The Academy works in areas of consciousness development, social projects including serving to protect indigenous tribes and the activation of a culture of peace. Dr. JJ Hurtak is author of numerous books including, The Book of Knowledge: The Keys of Enoch® (www.keysofenoch.org), translated into fourteen languages and the End of Suffering that he co-authored with his colleague, physicist Russell Targ. Together the Hurtaks have written several books including their latest book entitled Overself Awakening.
Drs. Hurtak have published numerous articles and won 14 international awards for their films on consciousness exploration. The Hurtaks together have traveled throughout the world to investigate ancient cultures and work closely with indigenous people, including the Zulu Shaman Credo Mutwa and the Xavante Indians (Brazil). View Guest page

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J.J. & Desiree Hurtak

DR. J. J. HURTAK, Ph.D., Ph.D. and Dr. DESIREE HURTAK, Ph.D., MS. Sc. are founders of The Academy For Future Science (www.futurescience.org), an international non-governmental organization that works to bring cooperation between science and consciousness. The Academy works in areas of consciousness development, social projects including serving to protect indigenous tribes and the activation of a culture of peace. Dr. JJ Hurtak is author of numerous books including, The Book of Knowledge: The Keys of Enoch® (www.keysofenoch.org), translated into fourteen languages and the End of Suffering that he co-authored with his colleague, physicist Russell Targ. Together the Hurtaks have written several books including their latest book entitled Overself Awakening. Drs. Hurtak have published numerous articles and won 14 international awards for their films on consciousness exploration. The Hurtaks together have traveled throughout the world to investigate ancient cultures and work closely with indigenous people, including the Zulu Shaman Credo Mutwa and the Xavante Indians (Brazil).
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Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana

Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana is Director of the American Friends Service Committee-DC Peace and Economic Justice Program, recipient of the United Nations Association of Washington, DC Chapter, 2010 Community Human Rights Award, and runs the DC Human Rights City Program. He holds Masters Degrees in International Affairs, Political Science and Criminal Justice, as well as a Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University. He is also the author of Mobutu’s Totalitarian Political System. An Afrocentric Analysis, and co-author of Africa In the 21st Century. Fluent in Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, French, Spanish and English, Mr. Ikambana is well known for his dedication to advancing human dignity in international, national and local organizations in Africa, Europe, North and South America. He led a coalition responsible for Washington, D.C. being declared as the first human rights city in the U.S. and he continues to expand human rights learning in D.C. public and private schools. View Guest page

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Bonifus Kabongo Ilunga

Bonifus Kabongo Ilunga is the head of Kamina Teacher’s College in the Katanga Region in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Past President of the Kamina Methodist University, the current assistant to Bishop Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda (the Bishop of the Katanga Region). He is Deputy Legal Representative of the North Katanga Region of the United Methodist Church, and is currently undertaking a Doctorate of Ministries degree at St Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri (with a specialization in Global Health and Wellness). He intends to pursue another doctorate degree in Leadership and Women’s Studies at Asbury University, in Kentucky. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and his Master’s Degree of Theology in Zimbabwe.
In 2003, he risked his life to go into the heavily armed and guarded jungle region controlled by the Mai Mai rebel group to successfully convince its leader to attend peace talks with the Congolese government.
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Ephraim Isaac

Ephraim Isaac, BD (Harvard Divinity School ’63), Ph.D. (Harvard University ’69), D.H.L. (CUNY) D.Litt. (AAU), Director of the Institute of Semitic Studies, a founder and the first professor of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University, called the Father of Peace by Ethiopians, founded the Horn of Africa Peace & Development Center (PDC) and the Coalition of Ethiopian Elders (CEE). In that capacity inspired by the Biblical prophets and Ethio-Oromo peace tradition, he has succeeded brilliantly in peace building in modern Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa. He is a recipient of the Tanenbaum 2003 Peacemakers Award, and several honorary degrees. Harvard University established the Ephraim Isaac Prize for Excellence in African Studies for Harvard College Seniors. Voted best teacher of the year every year of his tenure at Harvard, he speaks 17 languages, and is a visiting professor at Princeton University.
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Lisa F. Jackson

Lisa F. Jackson, a documentary filmmaker for over 35 years, received two Emmy awards and a Sundance Jury Prize. Sex Crimes Unit, her most recent film, is an unprecedented verite portrait of prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Her documentary filmed in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, won a Special Jury Prize for Documentaries at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and earned 2 Emmy nominations. She produced and directed Meeting with a Killer: One Family’s Journey (2001 Emmy Award nominee) for Court TV; Life Afterlife, a 90-minute Special for HBO; The Secret Life of Barbie (1999 Emmy Award winner) for ABC News; Addicted and Why Am I Gay? for HBO’s America Undercover series; No Money, Mo’ Problems and Smart Sex for the MTV series True Life; The Other Epidemic for ABC News; and five episodes in the Hallmark Channel’s acclaimed Adoption series, including films shot in Siberia and Guatemala.
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Naresh Jain

Naresh Jain is President and co-founder of Educare Foundation which provides educational assistance to needy children in New Jersey and in India and focuses on retaining such children in schools who are likely to drop out. He is an emeritus trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, co-founder of the International Jain Sangh, and serves as a director in the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) as well as an advisor to the board of the Monmouth Center of World Religions and Ethical Thought. He has been involved in interfaith forums in the US and abroad. His articles on a variety of topics including Ahimsa, Ecology and inter-religious experiences have been published in newspapers and journals. He received his early education in Jain, Catholic, and Protestant schools. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. During his teenage years, he lived close to Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati, India. View Guest page

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Azza Karam, Ph.D.

Azza Karam, Ph.D., as Senior Advisor on Social-Culture Development at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), manages global activities on social determinants of development, interfaith networking, and coordinates an Inter-Agency Task Force on Faith-Based Engagement. She was Senior Policy Advisor in the Bureau for Arab States at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP); President of the United Nations Committee of Religious NGOs; Senior Program Officer at the International Institute on Democracy and Electoral Assistance; and founded the first Global Women of Faith Network (Religions for Peace). She managed global developmental programs throughout the world, taught at many universities, and published widely on political economy, democratization, human rights, and religion. Her books include Religion and the United Nations; Transnational Political Islam; Islamisms, Women and State; Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers; and, A Woman’s Place: Religious Women as Public Actors.
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Dr. Solomon Katz

Dr. Solomon Katz, is the Director of the Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and Development, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, and CEO of the World Food Forum. His Encyclopedia of Food and Culture was awarded both the Dartmouth Medal and Emerald Award. He was editor of a 14 book series on the History and Anthropology of Food and Nutrition that included four books on famine and food security in sub-Sahara Africa. He chairs the American Anthropological Association Task Force on World Food Problems and is the former president of Institute On Religion In An Age of Science (IRAS). He is the founding President of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science, and a Trustee of the Council For A Parliament of the World’s Religions. He is chairing the Fifty-Ninth Annual IRAS Summer Conference at Silver Bay, New York, July 27 to August 3, 2013 entitled the Scientific, Spiritual, And Moral Challenges In Solving The World Food Crises. See: www.IRAS.org
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Vikrom Kromadit

Through hard work, and a strong sense of responsibility for his family, Vikrom Kromadit, the eldest of 22 children, owned his first business at age 8, and became one of Thailand’s richest men. He founded the Amata Corporation, Thailand's leading developer and manager of industrial estates, and heads the Amata Group with 15 subsidiary companies. The company designs and builds planned communities with schools, hospitals, industrial parks, recreation areas, and housing, employs over 200,000 people, and does business in Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. Amata provides Ready-Built Factories, power, water, waste water treatment, broadband internet, vehicle leasing, housing, shopping malls, health clinics, schools, restaurants and more. These industrial estates function as complete towns, where people can work and live well. The largest estate, Amata Nakorn, Chonburi, encompasses 3,020 hectares (7,549 acres), and enables 514 manufacturing projects to operate within its boundaries.
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Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein

Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein is a nutritionist and Founding Director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE). She is Emerita Professor of Human Nutrition at McGill University, Montreal. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an honorary Doctor of Law degree from The University of Western Ontario. Her publications include more than 220 journal articles, books, book chapters and conference proceedings and 130 abstracts. She has given 140 invited presentations. She holds memberships in the World Public Health Nutrition Association, the American Society of Nutrition, the (American) Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Canadian Nutrition Society. She is a recipient of McGill’s Earle W. Crampton Award for Distinguished Service in Nutrition and a winner of the Canadian Jack Hildes Medal for Circumpolar Health. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Nutrition and of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences
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Dr. Denise Lajimodiere

Dr. Denise Lajimodiere is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Pembina Chippewa and an assistant professor in the School of Education, Educational Leadership, North Dakota State University, Fargo. She received her doctorate in educational leadership in 2006 from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. She worked as an elementary instructor and elementary principal on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. She has been involved in education for over 34 years and is Chairperson of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. She is a published poet, birch bark biter, (a traditional, painstaking technique that uses teeth to shape tree bark into artistic designs), a champion jingle dress dancer, a researcher, human rights advocate and proponent of the rights of women.
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Danika Littlechild

Danika Littlechild, JD, is a member of the Erminskin Cree Nation located in the territory of Treaty No.6 in Alberta, Canada. She is a lawyer practicing in the areas of Indigenous law, Canadian Aboriginal law, environmental law and international law. She is currently consulting legal counsel for the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), and also works with various First Nations and Indigenous organizations. She has presented on the issue of water at various conferences and gatherings including the Canadian Indigenous Bar Association, the Dene National Water Gathering, annual and special meetings of the Assembly of First Nations, and at academic conferences in Victoria British Columbia. She is the Deputy Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the North South Institute, and was recently inducted as a "Treaty Lawyer" for Treaty No. 6 in 2012, signifying a cultural and spiritual recognition and responsibility to advocate for the interests of the Indigenous members of Treaty No.6.
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Hugh Locke

Hugh Locke began his professional career directing a nation-wide tree planting program for Katimavik, Canada's national youth service organization, and establishing a foundation and archives related to the work of forester Richard St. Barbe Baker (1889-1982). He went on to spend 20 years in the field of development, working with a wide range of governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, and United Nations agencies on social, environmental, and economic programs which contributed to the common good. In 2005, he co-founded Yéle Haiti with musicians Wyclef Jean and Jerry Duplessis. Together, they provided emergency relief, employment, education, and environmental services to the people of Haiti. He stepped down as president in early 2011 to launch the Haitian-based Smallholder Farmers Alliance, of which he is co-founder and President. He advises and serves on the boards of a number of Haitian NGOs, and is the author of The Haiti Experiment, released in 2013
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Rajesh Makwana

Rajesh Makwana is the Executive Director at Share The World’s Resources (STWR). He has written numerous publications on the need for a new economics, and advocated the concept of economic sharing in various high-profile debates and presentations. Always interested in social justice issues, he worked with Mohammed Mesbahi, STWR’s founder, to formally establish it as a civil society organization in 2003. He writes regularly on global justice and environmental issues, and is passionate about applying the concept of sharing to the world economic situation.
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Rev. Jacklevyn Manuputty

Rev. Jacklevyn Manuputty sought to nourish peace in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia which were torn apart by religiously motivated violence. He strengthened communal bonds by co-founding the Maluku Interfaith Institution for Humanitarian Action, (LAIM). LAIM creates institutional capacity building programs, develops positive public discourse and builds a network of pluralistic conflict prevention observers. LAIM builds interfaith peace groups of women, journalists, religious leaders and students. It has a live in program for clergy to overnight in each other’s homes to build trust and work together to solve social problems. Rev. Jacky and his colleagues developed a peace curriculum, an interfaith peace sermon program and a trauma healing program. Rev. Jacky is one of 35 Christian delegates to sign the Malino II Peace Agreement in February 2002. He is the recipient of the Tanenbaum Peacemaker's In Action Award.
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Jean Mbuyu

Jean Mbuyu is a lawyer and founder of the Center For Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. In 1997, he received the prestigious MacArthur Award for his work in international human rights. He assisted the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which was established to prosecute persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda and neighboring territories between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. The genocide claimed approximately 800,000 lives. He worked as a human rights activist in opposition to the Mobutu Sese Seko totalitarian regime, and his arrest for launching an inquiry into the massacre of civilians became a rallying point by the people against Mobutu. Mr. Mbuyu holds a BA degree in Latin and Philosophy, a Masters degree in International Human Rights Law, a Juris Doctorate Degree and a PhdD in Law. View Guest page

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Professor Kamran Mofid, PhD

Professor Kamran Mofid, PhD, is Founder of the Globalization for the Common Good Initiative, and Co- founder/Editor, of the Journal of Globalization for the Common Good. He is a member of the International Coordinating Committee of the World Public Forum, Dialogue of Civilizations, a Founding Member, World Dignity University, and Global Advisory Board, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies. He has a Certificate in Education in Pastoral Studies from Plater College, Oxford. He taught at the Universities of Windsor, Birmingham, Bristol, Wolverhampton, and Coventry. His work is multi-disciplinary and entails Economics to Spirituality. His books include Development Planning in Iran: From Monarchy to Islamic Republic , The Economic Consequences of the Gulf war, Globalization for the Common Good, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalization for the Common Good , and co-authored Promoting the Common Good, and A non-Violent Path to Conflict Resolution and Peace Building.
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Rev. Deborah Moldow

Rev. Deborah Moldow is the representative to the UN for the World Peace Prayer Society. She is co-chair of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee and facilitates the URI-UN Cooperation Circle. She is co-director of the Source of Synergy Foundation's Evolutionary Leaders Project. Rev. Deborah is an ordained Interfaith Minister, leading monthly services in Westchester, NY. She and Monica Willard were co-recipients of the 2009 Spirit of the United Nations Award.
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Mary Morgan-Moss

Ambassador Mary Morgan-Moss has a storied career as a reknown diplomat, singer, TV producer and host in Panama. In 1981 she created the Mary Arias Foundation, a non profit organization that provides free services to children with Cerebral Palsy in Panama. It currently has four centers and two special classrooms. The inauguration of her Metropolitan Center in February, 2012, will act as a regional hub in Latin America for the education and treatment of children with Cerebral Palsy. Thousands of children with Cerebal Palsy have benefitted from the help of her Foundation, the only free service provider in Panama for such children. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her charitable work.
In 1994 she was appointed Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Panama to the United Nations, where she continues to serve. She raised three daughters, and has seven grandchildren.
She is married to world champion bridge player Michael Moss, for over 20 years.
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Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid

Born in Pakistan, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is a humanitarian, interfaith activist, film producer, and head of two major nonprofit organizations. He is the current Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Council for A Parliament of the World’s Religions, and President of Sound Vision. He authored Conversion To Islam: Untouchables Strategy For Protest In India, which won the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award in 1990. He served as the National Coordinator of the Bosnia Task Force USA, and a similar Kosovo Task Force. He successfully led efforts in collaboration with the National Organization of Women to declare rape as a war crime. He chaired the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and served on the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention in 2008. He is the Executive Producer of Chicago's Radio Islam, a daily one hour talk program. He was recently selected as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world.
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Jacqueline Murekatete

Jacqueline Murekatete is a human rights activist who was born in Rwanda in 1984. She lost most of her family to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. She participates in human rights and genocide prevention forums around the world. She received a B.A. in Politics from New York University, and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She received the Ina Kay Award (Anti-Defamation League); the Global Peace and Tolerance Award (Friends of the United Nations); the Moral Courage Award (American Jewish Committee), The Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award, the Do Something Award, the Imbuto Foundation's Celebrating Young Rwandan Achievers Award from the First Lady of Rwanda, and New York University’s Distinguished Young Alumna Award. In 2007, she founded Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner, a genocide prevention program under the umbrella of Miracle Corners of the World, a NY-based nonprofit organization, and has raised over $500,000 to build a community Center in Rwanda. View Guest page

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Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha

Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha is a poet, a human rights activist, and a teacher of global spirituality and interreligious dialogue, with 20 years of teaching experience in various American universities. An international scholar with a deep passion and compassion for the voiceless and the marginalized he met with Pope John Paul II, and has traveled to more than 15 countries gaining insights on the categorical imperative of “spirituality without borders.”
An Associate Tenured Professor in the Department of Religious studies at California State University Northridge since 2003, he created the Bumuntu Peace Institute in order to foster the consciousness of peace and global solidarity in Central Africa. He is engaged in the protection of human rights and women’s empowerment and intends to bring quality education to poor children in the most desolate areas of the Congo (DRC), while fighting the roots causes of poverty.
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Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha

Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha is a poet, a human rights activist, and a teacher of global spirituality and interreligious dialogue, with 20 years of teaching experience in various American universities. An international scholar with a deep passion and compassion for the voiceless and the marginalized he met with Pope John Paul II, and has traveled to more than 15 countries gaining insights on the categorical imperative of “spirituality without borders.”
An Associate Tenured Professor in the Department of Religious studies at California State University Northridge since 2003, he created the Bumuntu Peace Institute in order to foster the consciousness of peace and global solidarity in Central Africa. He is engaged in the protection of human rights and women’s empowerment and intends to bring quality education to poor children in the most desolate areas of the Congo (DRC), while fighting the roots causes of poverty.
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Muhammed Ijaz Noori

Muhammed Ijaz Noori, is the Chairman of the Pakistan Council for Social Welfare and Human Rights (PCSWHR). From Sialkot-Punjab, Pakistan, he has a MA in Mass Communication, began his career as a writer/reporter with different national newspapers, and a current affairs commentator with the Pakistan Television Corporation. He was project Director for initiatives to help earthquake victims, the elimination of child labor from the soccer ball industry, and the elimination of child labor from hazardous occupations. He has traveled to over 15 countries to participate in international conferences, workshops, and global congresses to work on issues of human rights, inter-religious dialogue, refugees, children, and the Doha Forum organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. He undertook three years of study on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and courses on child rights and political affairs arranged by UNICEF, the World Council of Churches, and the Church of England.
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Adam Parsons

Adam Parsons is the editor at STWR. Previously, he worked as a journalist and editor for national and regional newspapers in the UK before spending a number of years in South Asia as a freelance writer on spiritual and development issues. Among other publications, he is the author of Megaslumming: A Journey Through sub-Saharan Africa, The Seven Myths of Slums, and When Will Ordinary People Rise Up?
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Elisabet Sahtouris, PhD

Elisabet Sahtouris, PhD, is a dual US and Greek citizen who lives in Spain. She is an internationally known evolution biologist and futurist. With a post-doctoral degree at the American Museum of Natural History, she taught at MIT and the University of Massachusetts, contributed to the NOVA-Horizon TV series, is a fellow of the World Business Academy, an advisor to Ethical Markets and has been a UN advisor on indigenous peoples. Her venues include the World Bank, UN, Boeing, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, South African Rand Bank, Caux Round Table, Tokyo International Forum, Xynteo TPT, the governments of the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, Sao Paulo business schools, State of the World Forums, Parliament of World Religions, Bahrain banking conference, and the Sri Lanka Ethical Fashion Festival. She is the author of Earth Dance: Living Systems in Evolution; A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us; and Biology Revisioned with Willis Harman. See www.sahtouris.com View Guest page

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Tong Schraa-Liu

Tong Schraa-Liu, lecturer, author, advisor, consultant and entrepreneur, is a leading expert in the field of trans-cultural management, global leadership development, and organization and whole-system transformation. She holds degrees in Law and Customs Management, Business Economics, as well as a Masters Degree in Business Administration. She is the founder and CEO of Tong Schraa-Liu & Partners, an international consultancy and think-tank in the above disciplines. She and her team work in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America, and served the United Nations, European Union, International Criminal Court, various national governments, and Fortune 500 Multi-National Corporations. Tong is a co-author of the book, Responsible Global Leadership. Her multi-cultural approach integrates ancient Eastern wisdom with modern Western business practices. She works worldwide to facilitate the unleashing of creative potential of organizations, societies and cultures. View Guest page

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Dr PL de Silva

Dr PL de Silva (Adviser Thani Investments) has over 20 years experience of back-room diplomacy, mediation/negotiation. Previously he was Senior Advisor UN Global Compact under the leadership of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In 2009 Dr de Silva gave a keynote address at US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Future Operational Environment Seminar. He has taught Politics/International Relations in several graduate/undergraduate programs at universities in New York, New Jersey, Long Island and Queen's University of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Dr de Silva's publications include Postmodern Insurgencies: Political Violence, Identity Formation and Peacemaking in Comparative Perspective. He is co-founder with Professor WD Lakshman (former Vice Chancellor University of Colombo) of the International War-related Trauma & Humanitarian Intervention Trust (IWTHI Trust) setting up psychosocial training programs for practitioners serving combatants/non-combatants during Sri Lanka’s civil war.
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Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh

Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh is third in line of Sikh spiritual leaders of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha. He holds two Honorary Doctorates for service to religious faith propagation, community service, education and research. Bhai Sahib is Chairman of the British Sikh Consultative Forum since 2002. He has conserved many historical places of worship in Kenya and India, including the Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple). He is the first British Sikh to receive the title ‘Bhai Sahib’ from the Jathedars of the five Takhats (seats of authority) and President of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (an apex organisation representing Sikhs worldwide). Bhai Sahib engages in interfaith collaboration and is a recognised ‘Interfaith Visionary’, holding the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding. Bhai Sahib is the first Sikh to receive a Papal Knighthood in recognition of his dedicated work and enthusiastic commitment to working for peace among people of all faiths.
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Steve Szeghi

Steve Szeghi is a Professor of Economics at Wilmington College, Ohio,USA. He has been a faculty member there since 1987. Professor Szeghi has been at various times, a Department Head and Area Coordinator. In 2009 Steve Szeghi co-authored, with Peter Brown, Geoffrey Garver, Keith Helmuth, and Robert Howell, Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy. In 05-06 Szeghi’s article, Lessons in Sustainable Development on the Navajo Nation, appeared in the Journal for Economics and Politics. He is the author of many articles on social justice, environmental economics, primers in economics for social activists, and the economies of indigenous and aboriginal peoples as alternative economic systems, in both print and on-line journals such as Kosmos and JGCGI. At 15, Steve Szeghi began working for social justice on behalf of the United Farm Workers Union (Cesar Chavez) until his mid-twenties. Steve Szeghi continues to work for social justice, equality, and the environment. View Guest page

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Monica Willard

Monica Willard is the representative to the UN for United Religions Initiative, a grassroots interfaith organization with members in 87 countries. She chaired the annual UN DPI NGO Conference in 1996 and continues to work with the UN Department of Public Information on the annual International Day of Peace. A past President of the Committee of Religious NGOs, she has expanded interfaith dialogue and cooperation for peace at the United Nations since 2005
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Sakena Yacoobi

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is Executive Director and founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), the Professor Sakena Yacoobi Private Hospital in Herat, and the Professor Sakena Yacoobi Private High Schools in Kabul and Herat, Afghanistan.
Established in 1996 to provide education and health services, AIL has served more than 9 million Afghans by working at the grassroots level. AIL was the first organization to offer human rights and leadership training to Afghan women and first to open Women’s Learning Centers. Dr. Yacoobi has received multiple awards and honors including the Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action Award. She has presented at Global Peace Initiative for Women events, on a panel with the Dalai Lama, and at the Parliament of World Religions. She is an Advisor to the Fetzer Institute and published a prayer in Rosalind Bradley’s book: A World of Prayer. In 4/12, Dr. Yacoobi held the first International Conference on Love, Spirituality and Forgiveness in Herat, Afghanistan.
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Chintamani Yogi

Chintamani Yogi, MA, is the founding principal and coordinator of Hindu Vidyapeeth, comprised of three schools located in Kathmandhu, Balkumari and Lalitpur, Nepal, which provides quality, values based education to approximately 1,500 underprivileged and orphaned children on a non-profit basis. He also established Shanti Sewa Ashram, a peace service center whose objectives are to promote peace and spirituality at every level of society, help the poor and disadvantaged, and provide a platform for spiritually and peace based organizations to coordinate their efforts. He founded Youth Society for Peace, which supports youth in understanding the values of peace, tolerance, and selfless service. He leads community based programs at the Children's Study Center, Children's Peace Home and Women's Education/Training Program in Nepal. He has published 17 books, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, and is a highly regarded educator, peace activist and humanitarian.
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Bhola Nath Yogi, BA

Bhola Nath Yogi, BA, Diploma in Yoga Education, and MD in Yogic Therapy, was born and raised in Nepal. He is the Founding Principal of Hindu Vidyappeth Nepal, Ghorahi, Dang, Founder of the Children’s Peace Home in Parsa, Nepal, and Gorakshya Nath Sewa Sangh, a public service organization. He is Chairman of the Disabled People’s Organization, a committee member of Matribhoomi Sevak Sangh, and a member of Hindu Vidyapeeth Schools-UK, and the District Welfare Center. The Hindu Vidyapeeth School in Ghorahi, Dang, has approximately 430 students, who adheres to a rigorous academic curriculum, as well as a values, ethics based education. The Children's Peace Home in Parsa helps approximately 164 children receive their education, with 34 children actually in residence in a peaceful, rural setting. Volunteers from the Universities of Oxford, Durham, and Cambridge help teach the children. Mr. Yogi speaks Nepali, English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tharu and several local languages.
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